The 115th Field Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia, commonly called a “unit crest” or referenced as a DUI, was originally approved while the unit was still designated as a Battalion on 27 December 1951. It was subsequently redesignated for the 115th Armored Field Artillery Battalion on 30 June 1955, and again on 13 October 1960 for the 11th Artillery Regiment. The insignia’s final redesignation was on 28 July 1972 for the 115th Field Artillery Regiment.
In the center of the insignia is a pale (vertical band whose width is one-third of the shield) that is countercharged to create the appearance of a chevron, which symbolizes support in heraldry; combined with the pale itself it stands for “support with strength.” The red sections of the shield stand for the Regiment’s three batteries and allude to firepower (red is the color of Artillery), while the three yellow sections represent the three eras of combat service the unit had experienced at the time the insignia was approved. A castle taken from the Spanish flag stands for Manila, recalling the Philippine Insurrection; it is colored blue to denote that the unit was in the Infantry branch at the time. A pair of fleurs-de-lis signify service in Europe during both World Wars and are colored red to reflect the unit’s status an Infantry organization at the time. “Ever On Call,” the Regimental motto, recalls the readiness to service evinced by National Guard units from Tennessee, the Volunteer State
.♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦Currently inactive, the 115th Field Artillery Regiment began its service life as the 1st Infantry Regiment, constituted on 25 March 1887 in the Tennessee National Guard and organized in 1888 in central Tennessee from existing companies. It was mustered into Federal service as the 1st Tennessee Volunteer Infantry between 19-26 May 1898 for service in the Philippines, where it eventually took part in two campaigns (Manila and Malolos). It was the first of myriad redesignations/reorgnizations/consolidations/breakups for the Regiment, far too many to list in detail here so we will focus only on the unit’s designations when called into Federal service or serving a significant mission under state control.
Like many Field Artillery regiments in the National Guard, the unit was given Artillery regimental status before deployment in World War I; on 14 September 1917, the Tennessee National Guard’s 1st Infantry Regiment was converted and redesignated as the 115th Field Artillery and assigned to the 30th Division, with whom it would fight in three campaigns During World War II, the Regiment was broken up and its battalions renumbered and reassigned; units from the Regiment’s lineage and those added to it through annexation earned five World War II and seven Korean War campaign credits for the Regiment as a whole, as well as two Presidential Unit Citations and a Navy Unit Commendation during the Korean War and a Citation in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army during World War II.
The regiment would be reconstituted as the 115th Artillery Regiment in the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS) in 1959; redesignated the 115th Field Artillery in 1972, withdrawn from CARS in 1989 and reorganized under the U.S. Army Regimental System in 1989, at first comprising two independent battalions and a third that was an element of the 30th Infantry Division. Some of the Regiment’s units were deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom, with the Meritorious Unit Commendation being awarded to Batteries A and B of the 1st Battalion.
As of Summer 2023, the Regiment has no active battalions serving in any part of the Army (Active, Reserve, ARNG).